Side Effects
by Eclipse of Light
Summary: When Hiccup begins having strange dreams, he must determine if they're foretelling an awful future or if it's just the side effect of battle. Takes place two months after the end of the movie. Rated T for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1: The Dream

**Okay, my first HTTYD fic. I've had the vague idea for this story for a while, but I just lacked the inspiration and general confidence to write it until now. So I'm just going to write it and see how it comes out! I hope you enjoy!**

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****Chapter 1**

_The village was dark, an ominous red tinge to the sky above. Hiccup stood in the center of Berk, looking out over the ocean. There was a dark feeling in the air, like something bad was going to happen. He didn't like it, not in the slightest._

_Suddenly, an explosion came from behind him, knocking him forward and onto his stomach and sending debris flying everywhere. He covered his head to protect himself from the falling wood and stones from nearby buildings, screaming in fear all the while. People were running, screaming like madmen away from the cause of the explosion. A dragon flew into the sky, its great wings spread out as far as they could go. The dragon's body cast an ominous shadow against the ground just before Hiccup._

_Hiccup stood to run, trying to follow the crowd as best he could with his prosthetic leg. It was hard, and he found it difficult to keep up._

_A voice called his name and he looked up. Astrid flew above him on the back of her dragon, reaching down toward him frantically. She wanted to help him, he could tell. She wanted to get him out of there._

_Another explosion sent him reeling, and the dragon was knocked from the sky, Astrid hitting the ground hard and rolling. Hiccup called out to her and ran to her, hoping and praying to the gods that she was okay. As he got to her and took her up into his arms, she hugged him tightly, refusing to let go._

"_I love you, Hiccup. I'll always love you."_

_The words seemed to echo around inside his head as she said them. There was something terrifying about those words. He knew she meant them. Way down deep inside, he knew. But why was she telling him this now, when they were under attack? When they were supposed to be running away?_

_He helped her to her feet and they began to run away from the fire, which was ripping its way through the village at an ever-growing pace. It was beginning to feel like they'd never get away. They had to get away, though, or they would die._

_A scream broke right into Hiccup's thoughts, sending chills down to his very soul. He turned to see who it was, but a sudden flash of a metal blade and Astrid's body suddenly falling limp into his side kept him from seeing what was happening. He caught the blonde Viking with a grunt, suddenly crying out when he saw the blood that stained her tunic. Her blue eyes were wide with fear and pain as she looked at Hiccup, clutching at her stomach._

"_Hiccup, I—"_

_She suddenly found herself unable to talk, the wound to her person too severe to even allow her the ability to catch a good breath. Hiccup could hear himself pleading with the gods and anyone else that would listen for this not to be true. It couldn't be true._

_Astrid couldn't be dying._

_The blonde girl reached up to slowly, tentatively, touch her bloodied fingers to Hiccup's face as Hiccup enclosed his own hand around her wound. He was holding her tightly, tears forming in his eyes and running down his cheeks as her eyes slowly lost their light._

_They slowly lost their life._

_She exhaled deeply and went limp, her hand falling from his face and leaving a small trail of blood where she had touched him. His own hand was covered in the blood from her wound, which he was trying his best to quell. It hadn't worked._

"_You did this!" a voice echoed in his head. It wasn't Astrid's voice, but it was there, "You caused this!"_

_He had caused this._

_And now he couldn't stop it.

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The nudging from Toothless was what awoke the Viking from the dream. He sat up quickly, panting heavily and sweating hard. It took him a while to find the lamp next to his bed and light it, and as the flame glowed and reached the farthest corners of his room, he found himself looking at his hand as if expecting to see it still drenched with Astrid's blood.

Luckily, there was nothing there.

Hiccup heaved a great sigh and rubbed his face, only now realizing that he had been crying in his sleep. It was those tears that caused Toothless to nudge his human awake. He was worried about the fact that Hiccup was crying and he didn't know why. Hiccup quickly wiped the remnants of the tears from his face and looked at Toothless, who had his massive head resting on the side of the bed, eyes wide with curiosity and concern.

"I'm okay, buddy," Hiccup said as he reached out to pat Toothless's nose, "It was just a bad dream."

A bad dream he hoped he would never have, ever again.

It had been two months since that last battle with the huge dragon, which had resulted in a final, albeit a bit tentative, alliance between the dragons and Vikings. Two months since Hiccup had lost his leg in that battle and had been forced to use a prosthetic just to get across the room. Two months since he had first kissed Astrid. Or since she had kissed him. Whatever.

Ever since that first kiss when he emerged from his room to the general welcoming cheers of the villagers, Hiccup and Astrid had been in an all around awkward relationship. They shared a few short kisses now and then, maybe a look, a gentle caress. But neither one of them really knew how to proceed forward with the relationship.

All Hiccup really knew for sure was that he did love her. A lot.

So to see her die like that, so brutally and without question – even if it was just a dream – had shocked him in a horrible way.

And to know that it had somehow been his fault didn't help the situation.

Toothless nuzzled his nose against Hiccup's knee with a small growl. He was tired and wanted to be petted, but he also wanted sleep and the lamp wasn't helping matters. Hiccup chuckled and scratched his dragon's head with a smile. Even without trying to, Toothless had a way of comforting Hiccup. It was nice really, to have a friend who knew exactly when he was needed and just how to help. He had a feeling that it wouldn't matter how close he got to anyone, Toothless would always be the only being in the world capable of knowing all of that.

"All right, buddy," Hiccup said, leaning over to put the flame out, "let's get some sleep." He pulled nuzzled back down into his covers and patted Toothless's snout one last time before rolling over and closing his eyes to sleep. Toothless huffed, which sounded almost relieved at being able to go back to bed, and curled up in his spot by the fireplace, hiding his face behind his tail as he so often liked to do.

But while Toothless seemed to fall asleep quickly, Hiccup found himself staring at the far wall of his bedroom with wide eyes. He was afraid to close his eyes and see Astrid dying all over again. It was a vision he just couldn't handle for a second time. He could barely handle it once.

Her wide eyes, so full of fear, her face contorted in pain…

The gods were evil creatures, to send him a dream like that.

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**Yay, first chapter's finally done!**

**Okay, so due to my utter lack of interest in writing as of late, I'm relying on getting reviews from all of you readers out there to keep my inspiration for this story way up! I've been going through a year-long bout of writer's block and this is the first solid idea I've had in that long. Special thanks to the writers of HTTYD for helping me break that block long enough to at least write this much.**

**Please no spam or flames. I accept critiques, but please keep them constructive. As a matter of fact, I welcome any and all constructive criticism anyone can give me.**

**Thanx!**

**Next chapter should be up in a few days.**


	2. Chapter 2: A Date

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts, all! I really appreciate it.**

**On to chapter 2!

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**Chapter 2**

The sun rose over Berk a few hours later, and Hiccup opened his curtains to relish the sunlight coming in through his window and lighting his bedroom much more than any lamp ever could. He hadn't slept much since his dream, and had been beginning to wonder if morning would ever come. He wanted to see Astrid, and he knew that he couldn't very well do that in the middle of the night. But the two of them had an early morning flight together, one of their dates, and Hiccup was excited. For more than one reason this time.

Hiccup quickly dressed and pulled on his prosthetic leg before nudging Toothless awake. The dragon gave a slight grunt of protest and covered his face with a wing, huffing loudly.

"Oh, I see how it is," Hiccup said with a smile, his hands on his hips, "I guess you don't want to fly today, then, huh?"

Toothless moved his wing aside and stared at Hiccup with wide bright eyes, as if asking the human if they were really going flying or if Hiccup was just playing a joke on him to get him awake. Hiccup chuckled and shrugged, moving his way toward the bedroom door without a word. A few seconds after Hiccup left the room, Toothless followed.

Hiccup kept Toothless' saddle and tail fin propped up beside the door. He figured it was better than having the dragon wear them all the time. That had to get uncomfortable after a while. So he had taken to taking the saddle and fin off when they came in at night, and putting them on when they headed out in the morning. That way, if they didn't get around to flying, Toothless wasn't stuck wearing a saddle and a useless tail fin all day. Toothless had become accustomed to being "dressed" each morning, so taking the items off wasn't as hard as it had been a few months ago. Though he was still very protective of them, especially the fin. It had taken Hiccup a while to get it through the dragon's head that he would take care of the riding equipment. After all, he had made it. There was no need for him not to take care of it.

As Hiccup bent over to take the saddle and fin into his arms, Toothless made a leap from the staircase to the front door, growling excitedly. Hiccup chuckled a bit.

"All right, buddy, come on," he said as he opened the door. Toothless bounded outside and turned, his tail nearly wagging as he did so. The young Viking approached his dragon and tossed the saddle up and around Toothless' shoulders, firmly strapping it into place without hurting the Night Fury.

As he moved to attach the tail fin, Astrid came sauntering up, riding on the back of her Nadder, which she had affectionately called Butterfly. Hiccup found himself stifling a sigh of relief to see that she was okay. As a matter of fact, she was more than okay. She was positively giddy. It was clear she was excited for this flight.

They had planned to take a flight together weeks earlier. Just the two of them, no one else there to bother them. It was going to be wonderful, really. And now that they had finally managed to get some time alone where the rest of their friends were busy doing chores or something similar, they could go flying.

"Ready?" Astrid asked, her face aglow with excitement.

Hiccup finished attaching the tail fin properly to the stirrup so that he could control it, and stood up straight, offering Astrid a grin, "Yep, all ready."

"Well, then let's go!" Astrid said with a chuckle and Butterfly trilled in agreement.

Hiccup climbed up into the saddle, locking his prosthetic into place in the stirrup and spreading the tail fin. Toothless grunted with excitement and spread his wings. With one smirk in Astrid's direction, Hiccup gave the word and he and Toothless shot up into the air, Astrid not far behind.

It wasn't long before the flight turned into a race, with Toothless and Butterfly trying to out-fly one another and the humans egging them on. They headed out over the ocean and toward an alcove of much smaller islands outside of Berk before heading back inland and over the forest to the small pond surrounded by cliffs that Toothless had become trapped in upon losing his tail fin. It was here that they landed and let the dragons cool off in the pond a bit. Toothless started chasing the fish while Butterfly was busy splashing around like a bird in a birdbath.

Hiccup and Astrid took a seat on a rock a few feet away from the pond, watching their dragons play around in the water. Astrid had her legs stretched out in front of her, leaning backward on her hands, her braid over one shoulder. Hiccup was leaning forward, elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Every now and then, he'd steal a glance over in Astrid's direction, looking away quickly when it looked like she was going to glance back.

During the flight, Hiccup had almost forgotten about the dream. It was coming back to him now, in full force. He kept looking over to make sure that she was really here, that she was really okay. He wanted to touch her, to hug her and know that this was real, that this wasn't the dream.

He didn't turn away in time to avoid one of Astrid's glances.

She smiled slightly, "What's up?"

"Hmm?" Hiccup asked, lifting his head from his hands and looking at her, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you keep looking at me. Not that I mind, really. I'm just wondering why you keep trying to make it all discreet."

Hiccup chuckled nervously, putting his head back down into his hands to hide the blush coming to his cheeks, "Just…checking to make sure you're really here, is all." It wasn't a lie at all. Every day, he had to pinch himself to make sure that his relationship with Astrid was real, even if it was a little awkward.

Astrid raised an eyebrow with a small chuckle, "I'm still here, Hiccup. I'm not going anywhere," she said, reaching over suddenly to take one of Hiccup's hands in her own, "I promise."

"That's good to know," Hiccup said, his voice quiet, "I really like you, Astrid, and I—"

His statement was cut off abruptly as Astrid leaned forward and firmly pressed her lips against his in a kiss. Hiccup's eyes actually fluttered a bit before closing and he slipped a hand around her waist while she put her arms around his shoulders. The kiss lasted for quite a long time before Astrid broke it, giving Hiccup a flirtatious look as she smirked.

"That should convince you that I'm not going anywhere," she said in a whisper, her eyes locked with Hiccup's.

Hiccup nodded, "Good, ah, good method of convincing me."

"I thought so," Astrid said, slipping away from Hiccup and going back to her original position of legs outstretched and leaning back on her hands. Though this time, her eyes were on Hiccup and there was a faint grin on her lips. She wanted to kiss him again.

Something that Hiccup could agree with and wouldn't protest.

Toothless must have thought things were getting too hot between the two teenagers, because the next thing they knew, they were drenched in cold pond water and Toothless was laughing as best as a dragon could from his spot beside the pond. His tail was drenched in water, indicating that he had used it to splash them.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called in a less-than-happy tone. As much as he loved the dragon, he sure did have a way of ruining a mood, "That wasn't nice!"

Astrid was wetter than Hiccup was, as she was sitting closer to the pond thanks to the angle of the rock. As she started to try drying herself off a bit she started to laugh.

"Hiccup, don't worry about it. It's not a big deal."

She may have been right, but as far as Hiccup was concerned, the cold-water bath had ruined any chances of a second kiss on this little date with Astrid.

Once she was done getting what she could of the water out of her clothes – which really was not a lot – Astrid reached over and took Hiccup's hand again, "It's okay. Really. You'll just have to make it up to me on our next date."

Wait…did that mean he was supposed to kiss her next time? Great.

"Apparently, Toothless wasn't satisfied enough with flying. He has to drag us into his water fight," Hiccup said with a light chuckle, motioning over to where the two dragons were splashing one another relentlessly.

Astrid laughed, "Well, at least they're having fun. And we are too, right?"

"Well, of course."

Neither one of them had really been paying attention to the time, but the moment their stomachs started growling, they realized it must be time for lunch. Reluctantly, they stood and made their way toward the splashing dragons, both of which were now soaking wet, saddles and all, and tried to drag them from the water. This resulted in another water fight, in which Toothless and Hiccup were fighting against Butterfly and Astrid. In the end, there was no clear winner. Everyone was soaked.

Between the cold water and the cold air, the flight home was less than comfortable.

Once they were back in Berk, Hiccup went home to change. Stoick insisted that Toothless would have to dry off outside, and was even rather reluctant to let Hiccup inside all wet like that. But upon seeing how cold Hiccup was, he let the boy inside to change.

Once in another set of nice, warm clothes, Hiccup sat on his bed and rubbed at his eyes. Honestly he wasn't even thinking about the dream anymore. His date with Astrid had gone remarkably well, and he was now thinking about that rather than some crummy nightmare.

But he was still tired. His crappy night's sleep had made sure of that.

Sighing heavily, Hiccup stood and made his way back downstairs and outside. He was supposed to meet Astrid for lunch, and he didn't want to be late. He'd have to check on his riding equipment later to make sure the water didn't do too much damage, but for now he was off to meet the girl of his dreams.

Yeah. Today was a good day.

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_He stood atop a hill, looking across at two figures he couldn't make out. Below him, the village of Berk was on fire, dragons lighting up the buildings like matches. Screams rang out from the villagers as they ran for their lives. The two figures before him were conversing. One was obviously female, the other probably male. The female leaned in to give the male a hug._

_Suddenly, they parted, and the male fell to his knees limply, as if in pain._

_A scream broke through the night, louder than the others._

_A third figure came running over, lifting the fallen male into its arms. This figure's voice echoed across the hill toward Hiccup, full of malice and hatred._

"_You did this! You caused this!"

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Hiccup awoke in a cold sweat.

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**Ooh, a second dream.**

**I had fun writing this chapter. The interactions between Hiccup and Astrid are so fun to write! And don't worry, the other characters will be coming in soon. As a matter of fact, two of the other characters play a big role in this story.**

**I love reviews! They are awesome! As are favorites and alerts!**

**Thanx! Chapter three should be coming soon.**


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